f^lnCLoi/! 


A  D  D  R  F.  S  S 

OP  THE 

DEMOCRATS  IN  CONGRESS 

TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


SPEECHES  OF 


ADDRESS  OF  T7IE  DEilOCRATS  IX  00X0 RESS,  DET.IVERED  APRIL  20.  1871.. 


“  Our  presence  and  oflicial  duties  at 
Washington  have  enabled  us  to  become 
fully  acquainted  Avitli  tlic  actions  and  de¬ 
signs  of  those  Avho  control  the  radical 
party,  and  we  feel  called  on  to  utter  a  few 
words  of  warning  against  the  alarming  ad¬ 
vance  they  haA'e  made  toward  centraliza¬ 
tion.  The  power  is  in  the  hands  of  Con¬ 
gress  and  the  Executive.  The  time  and 
attention  of  Radical  leaders  have  been  al¬ 
most  wholly  directed  to  developing  such 
legislation  as  will,  in  their  view,  best  pre¬ 
serve  their  ascendahey,  and  no  regard  tor 
the  Avise  restraints  imposed  by  the  C'onsti- 
tution  has  checked  their  reckless  and  des¬ 
perate  career.  The  President  ot  the  Uni¬ 
ted  States  has  been  formally  announced  as 
a  candidate  for  re-election.  dMic  declara¬ 
tions  of  his  selfish  supporters  have  been 
echoed  by  a  subsidized  press,  and  a  discip¬ 
lined  party  has  already  made  adhesion  to 
his  personal  fortunes. 

“  Parti.san  legislation  has  been  shaped  in 
secret  caucus,  where  extremists’  councils 
always  predominated,  and  adopted  by  a 
subservient  majority,  if  not  Avith  an  intent 
exirtainly  with  an  effort,  to  place  in  the 
hands  of  the  President  poAver  to  command 
his  own  renomination,  and  to  employ  the 
navy,  army  and  militia  at  his  sole  discre¬ 
tion,  as  a  means  subservient  to  his  person¬ 
al  ambition.  Whenjthe  sad  experience  of 
the  last  tAvo  years,  so  disappointing  to  the 
hopes  and  generous  confidenee  of  the 
counti-y,  is  considered  in  connection  Avith 


the  A'iolent  utterances  and  rash  purpose  of 
those  Avho  control  the  President’s  policy, 
it  is  not  surpi-ising  that  the  gravest  appre¬ 
hensions  for  the  future  peace  of  the  nation 
should  have  been  entertained. 

At  a  time  Avhen  labor  is  depressed  and 
eA'ery  material  interest  is  pampered  by  op- 
pressiA'c  taxation,  public  offices  have  been 
multiplied  beyond  all  pi-ecedent,  to  serve 
as  instruments  in  perpetuating  poAver. 

Partizanship  has  been  the  only  test  ap- 
jdied  in  the  distribution  of  this  va.st  pat¬ 
ronage.  Honesty,  fitness  and  moral  Avortli 
ai-e  openly  discarded  in  tav'or  of  truckling 
submission  and  dishonorable  compliance  r 
Hence  enormous  defalcations  and  wide¬ 
spread  corruption  liaA^e  folloAved  as  a  natu¬ 
ral  consequence  this  pernicious  system. 

“By  an  official  report  of  the  'Secretaiy 
of  the  Treasury  it  appears,  after  deductions 
of  all  proper  credits,  that  many  millions  of 
dollars  remain  due  from  ex-Collcctors  of 
Internal  l^evenue,  and  no  proper  diligence 
has  CA'cr  been  used  to  collect  them.  Re¬ 
forms  ill  the  reA^enue  Avhich  all  experience 
demonstrates,  is  necessary,  frugal  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  government  as  Avell  as  a 
measure  of  relief  to  an  over  burdened  peo¬ 
ple  has  been  persistently  postponed  or 
Avilfully  neglected.  Congress  noAV  ad¬ 
journs  Avithout  having  attempted  to  reduce 
taxation  or  repeal  glaring  impositions  by 
Avhich  industry  is  crushed  and  impoverish¬ 
ed.  The  treasury  is  over  floAving  and  an 
excess  of  eighty  millions  of  revenue  is  ad- 


9 


mitted,  aud  yet  iusteacl  of  some  measure  for 
present  relief,  a  barren  and  delusive  reso¬ 
lution  is  passed  by  the  Senate  to  consider 
the  tariff  and  excise  systems  hereafter,  as  if 
the  histoiy  of  broken  pledges  and  pretend¬ 
ed  remedies  furnish  any  better  assurance 
for  future  legislation  than  experience  has 
done  in  the  past.  Shipbuilding  and  the  car¬ 
rying  trade,  once  a  source  of  national  piide 
and  prosperity  now  languish  under  the 
crushing  load  of  taxation  and  nearly  every'- 
other  business  interest  is  struggling  with¬ 
out  profit  to  maintain  itself. 

Our  agticulturalists  while  pajing  a  hea\y 
tax  on  all  they  consume,  either  to  the  gov¬ 
ernment  or  the  monopolists,  find  the  pri¬ 
ces  for  their  own  products  so  reduced  that 
honest  labor  is  denied  its  just  reward,  and 
industry  is  prostrated  by  invidious  discrim¬ 
ination.  Nearly  200,000,000  acres  of  pub¬ 
lic  lands,  which  should  have  been  reoirved 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  have  been 
voted  away  to  giant  corporations,  neglect¬ 
ing  our  soldiers  and  enriching  a  handful  of 
greedy  speculators  aud  lobbyists  who  are 
thereby  enabled  to  exercise  a  most  dan¬ 
gerous  and  corrupting  influence  over  state 
and  federal  legislation.  If  the  career  of 
these  conspirators  be  not  checked,  the 
dowfall  of  free  government  is  inevitable, 
and  with  it  the  elevation  of  a  military 
dictator  on  the  ruins  of  the  republic. 

Under  the  pretense  of  passing  laws  to 
enforce  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  and 
for  other  purposes.  Congress  hos  conferred 
the  most  despotic  powers  upon  the  Execu¬ 
tive.  and  provided  an  official  machinery  by 
which  the  liberties  of  the  people  are  men¬ 
aced  and  the  sacred  rights  of  local  self- 
government  in  the  states  ignored,  if  not  ty¬ 
rannically  overthrown.  Modeled  by  the 
sedition  laws  so  odious  in  history,  they  are 
at  variance  with  all  the  sanctified  theories 
of  our  institutions,  and  the  construction 
given  by  these  radical  interpretera  to  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment  is,  to  use  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  an  eminent  senator — Mr.  Trum¬ 
bull  of  Illinois — “an  anuihilator  of  the 
states.”  Under  the  last  enforcement  bill, 
the  executive  may  in  his  discretion  thrust 
aside  the  government  of  any  state ;  sus¬ 
pend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ;  arrest  its 
governor ;  imprison  or  disperse  its  legisla¬ 
ture  ;  silence  its  judges,  and  trample  down 
its  people.  Under  the  armed  heel  of  his 
troops,  nothing  is  left  to  the  citizens  or 
state  which  can  any  longer  be  called  a  right ; 
all  is  changed  into  mere  suflferance. 

We  earnestly  entreat  our  iellow-citizens 
in  all  parts  of  the  Union  to  spare  no  effort 
to  maintain  peace  and  order :  to  carefully 
protect  the  rights  of  every  citizen ;  to  pre¬ 
serve  kindly  relations  among  all  men,  and 
to  discountenance  and  discourage  any  vio¬ 


lation  of  the  rights  of  any  portion  of  the 
people  secured  under  the  constitution  by 
any  of  the  amendments.  Let  us,  in  con¬ 
clusion,  earnestly  beg  of  you  not  to  aid  the 
present  'attempts  of  radical  partisans  to 
stir  up  strife  in  the  land,  to  renew  the  is¬ 
sues  of  the  war,  or  to  obstmet  the  return 
of  peace  and  prosperitj’^  to  the  Southern 
states,  because  it  is  thus  that  they  seek  to 
divert  the  attention  of  the  countiy  from 
the  coiTuption  and  extravagance  of  their  ad¬ 
ministration  of  public  affaii’s  and  dangerous 
]  and  profligate  attempts  they  are  making 
I  toward  creating  a  centralized  militaiy  gov- 
I  ernment.  In  the  five  years  following  the 
war,  the  radical  administration  have  ex- 
I  pended  $1,200,000,000  for  ordinary'  purpos¬ 
es  alone,  being  within  $200,000,000  of  the 
aggregate  amount  for  the  same  purposes  in 
the  war  and  in  peace  during  the  71  years 
preceding  June  bOth  1861,  not  including  in 
either  case  the  sum  paid  upon  the  princi¬ 
pal  or  interest  of  the  public  debt.  It  is  tri¬ 
fling  with  the  intelligence  of  the  people 
for  the  radical  leaders  to  pretend  that  this 
vast  sum  has  been  honestly  expended. 
Hundreds  of  millions  of  it  have  been  wan¬ 
tonly  squandered.  The  expenditures  of 
the  government  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30, 1861,  were  onlj*  $92,000,000  while 
for  precisely  the  same  pupose — the  civil 
list,  aiTny,  navy,  pensions,and  Indians — 
$164,0000,000  were  expended  during  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 1870. 

Our  hopes  for  redress  are  in  the  calm, 
good  sense  and  the  sober,  second  thought  of 
the  American  people.  Yf e  call  upon  them 
to  be  true  to  themselves  and  to  their  past, 
and  disregarding  party  name  and  minor 
differences,  to  insist  upon  a  decent  equali¬ 
zation  of  power,  the  restriction  of  federal 
authority  within  its  just  and  proper  limits, 
leaving  to  the  states  that  control  of  their 
domestic  affairs  which  is  essential  to  their 
happiness  and  tranquillity  and  good  gov¬ 
ernment.  Everything  that  malicious  inge¬ 
nuity  could  suggest  has  been  done  to  irri¬ 
tate  the  people  of  the  middle  and  southern 
states.  Gross  and  exaggerated  charges  of 
disorder  and  violence  have  been  originated 
I  in  the  mischievous  minds  of  the  political 
!  managers  in  the  senate  and  house  of  repre- 
I  sentatives,  to  which  the  executive  has,  Vv'e 
j  regret  to  say,  lent  his  aid,  aud  thus  helped 
!  to  inflame  the  popular  feeling.  In  all  this 
course  of  hostile  legislation  and  harsh  re¬ 
sentment,  no  word  of  conciliation,  of  kind 
encouragement  or  fraternal  fellowship  has 
ever  been  spoken  by  the  president  or  by 
congress  to  the  people  of  the  southern 
states.  They  have  been  addressed  only  in 
the  language  of  proscription. 

No  indignation  can  be  too  stern  and  no 
scorn  too  severe  for  the  assertion  by  the 


iwiscnipulous  radical  leaders  that  the  great 
democratic  and  conservative  union  party 
has,  or  can  have,  sympathy  with  disorder 
or  violence  in  any  part  of  the  country,  or 
in  the  deprivation  of  any  man  of  his  rights 
under  the  constitution.  It  is  to  protect  and 
perpetuate  the  rights  which  every  free  man 
cherishes ;  to  revive  in  all  hearts  the  feel¬ 
ing  of  friendship,  atfectioii  and  harmony, 
which  are  the  best  guarantees  of  law  and 
order,  and  to  throw  around  tlie  humblest 
citizen,  wherever  he  may  be,  the  protection 
of  those  safeguards  of  personal  liberty 
which  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  land 
assure,  that  we  invoke  the  aid  of  all  good 


men  in  the  work  of  peaee  and  reconcilia¬ 
tion.  We  invite  that  generous  co-operation, 
irrespective  of  all  former  differences  of 
opinion,  so  that  the  harsh  voice  of  discord 
may  be  relieved ;  that  a  new  and  dangerous 
sectional  agitation  may  be  checked ;  that 
the  burdens  of  taxation,  direct  or  indirect 
may  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  point  con¬ 
sistent  with  good  faith  to  every  just  national 
obligation,  and  with  a  strictly  economical 
administration  of  the  government,  and  that 
the  states  may  be  restored  in  their  integrity 
and  true  relations  to  our  federal  union. 

(Here  follows  the  signatures  of  all  repre¬ 
sentatives.)] 


DEMOCRATIC  PLATFORM. 


The  i*epresentn,tives  of  the  Democratic  party  of 
Wisconein,  in  State  Convention  assembled,  hereby 
affirm: 

That  we  point  with  pride  to  the  economical  ad¬ 
ministration  and  limited  amount  of  taxation  that 
prevailed  in  the  State  under  Democratic  rule,  as 
contrasted  with  the  enormous  body  of  taxation  and 


profligate  expenditures  of  the  sueceeding  Repub¬ 
lican  State  administrations;  and  that  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  party,  if  restored  to  power,  will  observe 
economy,  retrenchment  and  reform  in  every  de¬ 
partment  of  the  State  Government. 

That  the  wise  restriction  enacted  in  the  10th 
Amendment  to  the  National  Constitution,  reserv¬ 
ing  to  the  states  respectively  and  to  the  people  all 
powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States,  is  one 
of  the  strongest  safeguards  of  popular  freedom; 
that  the  acts  of  Congress  and  of  the  federal  ad¬ 
ministration,  usurping  power  not  delegated  in  the 
Constitution  and  brealdng  down  the  distinctions 
between  the  powers  of  the  State  governments  and 
those  of  the  general  government,  are  destructive 
to  constitutional  liberty  and  threaten  the  over¬ 
throw  of  our  existing  form  of  local  and  federal 
government,  and  tenet  to  the  establishment  of  a 
permanent  centralized  despotism  in  Congress  and 
the  national  executive ;  and  that  we  denounce,  as 
a  vicious  offshoot  of  the  centralizing  tendencies  of 
the  general  government,  the  frequent  attempts  of 
the  agents  of  the  federal  administration  to  inter¬ 
fere  in  local  political  affairs. 

That  we  are  in  favor  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  only ; 
that  under  the  pretext  of  raising  a  revenue,  within 
the  past  ten  years,  the  national  congress  has  es¬ 
tablished  and  continues  that  enormous  robbery  of 
the  masses  for  the  ouichment  of  the  few  known 
as  the  protective  tariff  system,  -which  has  swept 
our  commerce*  from  the  "seas  and  fettered  and  op¬ 
pressed  every  agricultural  pursuit;  a  system  of 
which  the  conventions  of  the  republican  party, 
equivocally  andbaltingly  speak  in  their  platforms, 
but  which  that  party  perpeiuates  in  congress,  and 
from  which  the  people  may  l^me  for  no  relief  but 
by  the  restoration  of  democratfc  rule. 

That  by  corruption  and  profligacy,  the  present 
administration  have  squandered  larger  portions 
of  the  national  domain  and  enormous  sums  from 
the  national  treasury;  that  it  is  no  answer  to  this 
complaint  that  they  have  paid  some  portion  of  the 
national  debt;  for  by  a  wise  and  economical  use 
of  the  immense  revenue  which  an  unprecedented 
taxation  has  raised  a  much  greater  reduction  in 
the  debt  should  have  been  accomplished  ;  but  that 
the  Democratic  party  opposes  oppressive  taxation 
for  the  mere  sake  of  a  speedy  payment  of  the  debt, 
believing  that  by  wisdom  and  justice  in  the  ad¬ 
justment  of  taxes,  and  economy  in  their  expen¬ 
diture,  the  national  debt  may  be  paid  with  suf¬ 
ficient  rapidity  with  but  a  light  burden  upon  the 


industry  and  resources  of  the  people,  and  that  we 
are  opposed  to  all  forms  of  national  repudiation 
either  of  the  debt  or  the  pensions  and  bounties 
due  the  soldiers. 

That,  as  the  late  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
have  been  declared  by  the  properly  constituted  au- 
thories  to  be  a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
land,  they  are  binding  upon  the  people;  that  the 
Democratic  party  now  as  in  the  past  know  no  higher 
law  than  the  Constitution ;  that  the  time-honored 
principle  of  strict  construction  applied  by  its  framers 
and  accepted  by  the  wisest  statesmen  and  jurists  of 
the  country  should  be  observed  in  all  legislation  by 
Congress  relating  to  the  constitution  and  its  amend¬ 
ments,  that  the  Democratic  party  is  opposed  to  tha 
withdrawal  of  civil  and  political  rights  from  any 
class  of  the  people,  and  that  we  demand  the  removal 
of  all  political  disqualifications. 

That  the  defalcations,  embezzlements  and  cor¬ 
ruptions  of  the  national  administration  and  the 
prostitution  of  legislation  to  the  demands  of  un¬ 
scrupulous  lobbies  and  greedy  monopolies,  are  a 
national  scandal  and  disgrace,  the  most  dangerous 
blow  to  the  public  credit,  and  an  intolerable  out¬ 
rage  upon  the  tax-payers  of  the  country. 

That  as  the  representatives  of  a  constitution¬ 
al-loving  and  law-abiding  party,  we  deprecate  and 
denounce  every  outbreak  of  lawlessness  and  vio¬ 
lence  whether  committed  at  the  North  or  at  the 
South,  and  that  the  acts  of  Congress  which  author¬ 
ize  the  employment  of  the  standing  array  to  gar¬ 
rison  the  places  where  elections  are  to  be  held  and 
to  constitute  a  local  police  in  the  States,  and  which 
empower  the  officers  of  the  federal  administration 
to  interpose  militai*y  force  for  the  purpose  of  over¬ 
awing  political  conventions  of  the  people,  are 
subversive  of  free  government  and  a  perpetual 
menace  to  public  liberty. 

That  while  the  i)eoplo  of  this  country  hope  that  In' 
the  time  to  come  they  may  extend  the  blessings  of 
our  form  of  government  oyer  the  entire  continent, 
the  course  pursued  by  the  national  administration  in 
its  efforts  to  annex  San  Domingo  was  an  unjustifiable 
usurpation  and  a  wicked  attempt  to  lay  hold  of  the 
faith  of  this  people  in  their  high  destiny  for  un¬ 
worthy  purposes  of  personal  gain. 

That  the  Democratic  party,  now  as  ever,  is 
in  favor  of  and  always  will  defend  the  wid¬ 
est  toleration  in  reiigiou8*opinion,  regarding  civil 
liberty  and  religious  liberty  as  equally  cardinal 
principles  of  free  and  good  government. 

That  while  it  is  a  state  duty,  to  foster  all  proper 
public  improvements  of  the  rivers  withiu  our 
borders,  yet  the  character  of  the  improvements 
begun  and  projected  on  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin 
rivers,  and  the  benefits  to  be  derived  therefrom, 
are  such  that  it  is  a  matter  of  national  concern, 
which  should  be  persistently  pressed  upon  the  at¬ 
tention  of  the  federal  government. 


4 


/ 


Whereas,  Believing  thatno  past  habits  of  asso¬ 
ciation  and  partizan  affiliation  should  prevent  the 
citizens  of  a  free  country  from  co-operating  to¬ 
gether  for  the  success  of  principles  that  are  neces¬ 
sary  for  the  public  safety  and  vital  to  the  cause  of 
good  government;  therefore, 


Resolved,  That  wc  commend  the  principles  here¬ 
in  announced  to  the  calm  and  candid  judgment  of 
the  people  of  all  parties  in  the  State,  and  we  so¬ 
licit  in  their  behalf,  and  for  the  candidates  nomi¬ 
nated  upon  this  platform  the  support  and  suflrages 
'  of  all  our  honest  and  patriotic  fellow-citizens. 


SPEECH  OP  HON.  J.  R.  DOOLITTLE,  UPON  ACCEPTING  HIS  NOMINATION. 


Gentlemen: — I  am  deeply  moved,  by 
the  confidence  reposed  in  me,  by  the  Con¬ 
vention,  and  no  less  by  the  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  done.  Sayine:  that  does 
not  tell  the  one-half  I  feel  at  this  moment. 

I  am  profoundly  grateful ;  and,  5’et,  I 
could  have  wished  your  choice  had  fallen 
upon  another.  It  was  not  sought.  It  was 
not  expected.  Near  friends  assent  with 
reluctance,  and  my  own  inclinations  do 
not  yield  without  a  struggle.  But  there 
are  times  when  a  man’s  personal  wishes 
and  interests  must  yield  to  the  public  judg¬ 
ment.  I  know  full  well  how  much  of  time 
and  labor  it  will  cost.  But  if  the  use  of  m}^ 
name  can  do  anything  to  save  constitutional 
liberty  and  republican  institutions  in  sub¬ 
stance,  as  well  as  in  name,  from  the  dan¬ 
gers  which  threaten  them,  be  it  so.  I 
}deld  myself  to  the  judgment  of  the  con¬ 
vention,  and  accept  the  nomination.  Gen¬ 
tlemen,  it  may  be  proper  for  me,  in  brief 
words,  to  review  the  true  situation.  In 
doing  so,  I  must  speak  from  my  own  stand¬ 
point.  I  can  speak  from  no  other. 

The  last  few  years  have  witnessed  great 
events  in  the  history  of  our  country.  This 
generation  has  been  summoned  to  meet 
great  issnes,  duties  and  responsibilities 
— before  the  war  ;  during  the  war_ ;  and 
since  its  close. 

Some  of  those  issues  have  been  dis¬ 
cussed  in  the  forum,  and  decided  at  the 
polls ; — others  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Many  of  them  are  now  closed,  and  can 
never  be  reopened.  They  have  passed  in¬ 
to  histoiy. 

For  a  few  moments  let  me  recall  some 
of  those  now  buried  in  the  past,  in  order 
to  state  more  clearly  the  issues  and  duties 
of  the  present. 

First  among  the  issues  of  the  past  I 
mention  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com¬ 
promise  which  divided,  to  some  extent,  the 
Democratic,  and  originated  the  Republican 
party. 

Next  came  Kansas  with  its  bloodshed, — 
slave  code — and  Lecompton  Constitution, 
followed  by  war  on  Douglas — the  seces¬ 
sion  from  the  Charleston  Convention — the 
break  in  the  Democratic  part}^ — and  the 
election  of  Lincoln. 

Then  came  Conventions  and  formal 
resolutions  in  favor  of  secession  and  inde¬ 
pendence  in  the  Southern  States. 

These  great  issues  upon  which  men,  di¬ 


vided  who  act  together,  now,  each,  of  itself, 
sufficient  to  divide  and  to  create  political 
parties,  were  followed  by  the  still  greater 
issue  of  war ; — war  declared  and  waged  for 
secession  and  independence  by  the  South  ; 
— war  declared  and  waged  for  the  integri¬ 
ty  of  the  Union  under  the  constitution  by 
the  North. 

During  its  progress,  however,  not  only 
the  armies,  but  the  ideas  of  the  North  and 
South  came  in  conflict ;  Freedom  and  Slav- 
ery'met  face  to  face  in  battle.  To  establish 
an  independent  confederacy  upon  Slavery 
as  it  corner  stone,  was  the  idea  and  pur¬ 
pose  of  those  who  led  the  South  into  se¬ 
cession  and  war;  and  history  now  records 
among  its  most  memorable  events,  the 
proclamation  of  emancipation,  and  the 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  abolishing  slaveiw 
forever. 

At  length,  after  four  long  years  of  blood 
and  sacrifice,  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven, 
and  by  the  strength  and  endurance  of  our 
armies,  came  the  final  surrender  of  the 
South,  and  the  complete  triumph  of  the 
Union  Army.  The  war  was  ended. 

O !  how  our  hearts  went  up  to  Al¬ 
mighty  God ; — when  peace — blessed  peace 
had  come ; — when  blood  had  ceased  to 
flow — and  no  more  sons  were  to  go  down 
to  battle  and  to  death. 

^  Hardly,  however,  had  this  first  exulta¬ 
tion  come,  and  gone,  when  the  new  issue 
of  reconstruction  came ; — to  the  conquer¬ 
or,  a  more  trying  one,  than  war  itself.  I 
repeat  more  trying ;  for  it  was  to  determine 
whether,  a  party  all  powerful,  with  the 
sword  of  victory  in  its  hands,  when  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  vanquished,  could  rule  its  own 
spirit ;  could  itself,  obey  the  very  Consti¬ 
tution,  it  had  saciificed  three  hundred 
thousand  lives,  and  five  thousand  millions 
to  maintain ;  whether^  in  the  day  of  its 
strength,  it  could  keep  the  pledges,  it 
made  in  its  humiliation,  and  often  repeated 
from  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  to  the 
end  of  the  war. 

You  remember.  President  Lincoln  pro¬ 
posed  as  the  basis,  the  restoration  of  the 
states  and  people  of  the  South  to  their 
rights  under  the  Constitution.  He  was 
opposed  to  reconstruction  based  upon  dis¬ 
franchisement  of  the  whites  and  subject¬ 
ing  them  to  the  universal  suffrage  of  the 
blacks.  To  those  who  suggested  it,  his 
reply  was  like  that  of  Gustavus  Adolphus, 


the  King  of  Sweden,  who  after  saving  re¬ 
ligious  liberty  in  Germany  when  his  offi¬ 
cers  urged  him  to  retaliate  upon  his  ene¬ 
mies,  rejilied :  “  I  came  to  break  the 

chains  of  slavery  for  one  people,  and  not 
to  forge  new  ones  for  another.” 

With  malice  tow^ard  none  and  charity 
for  all,  pursuant  to  the  constitution,  and 
the  provisions  of  an  act  of  Congress  he 
proclaimed  the  conditions  of  amnest}’^  and 
peace. 

That  proclamation  w'as  approved  by  the 
whole  country,  including  a  very  large  ma¬ 
jority  of  his  ow'n  party.  Had  he  lived  I 
have  no  doubt  it  would  have  been  realized ; 
and  we  should  have  had  reconstruction 
under  the  Constitution,  and  not  military 
reconstruction  outside  of  it. 

Officially  as  president,  he  had  proclaim¬ 
ed  it,  Unofficially  in  a  speech  the  last  of 
his  life,  he  pleaded  for  it.  His  wdiolc  soul 
W'as  in  it.  He  w'as  never  stronger  in  his 
own  party,  than  at  that  moment. 

But  just  then  he  W'as  stricken  down  by 
an  assassin. 

The  responsibility  fell  upon  Mr.  John¬ 
son  wiio  had  less  pow^r  to  control  that 
party. 

From  that  moment  the  spirits  of  evil 
w'ere  unloosed.  The  passions  of  the  North 
were  inflamed ;  its  radical  leaders  infuriat¬ 
ed  strengthened  and  emboldened.  Keckless 
of  oaths,  pledges  and  constitutional  obliga¬ 
tions,  themselves,  they  denounced  in  both 
houses  of  Cnogress  Democrats  and  all  oth¬ 
ers  who  stood  for  the  Constitution,  as  lit¬ 
tle  better  than  rebels. 

With  fatal  blindness,  or  deliberate  pur¬ 
pose,  under  the  lead  of  Thadeus  Stevens, 
they  forced  upon  the  country  a  plan  of  re¬ 
construction  outside  the  Constitution  in- . 
volving  a  reconstruction  of  the  Constitu¬ 
tion  itself  by  the  sword  ;  and  to  accomplish 
that,  they  abolished  all  civil  law'  and  civil 
government,  even,  in  eleven  states  and  sub¬ 
jected  ten  million  people  to  martial  law', 
and  their  lives,  liberty  and  property  to  tri¬ 
al  by  Courts  Martial. 

It  W'as  a  clear  violation  of  the  constitu¬ 
tion;  a  gross  usurpation  of  i)ower.  Mr. 
Stevens,  their  great  leader,  know  it,  and 
avow'ed  it. 

When  the  ]\lcArdlc  case  from  IMississip- 
pi,  w'hich  involved  that  question,  w'as  pend¬ 
ing  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  after  it  had 
])een  argued,  a  law  w'as  rushed  through 
Congress,  in  hot  haste,  to  take  awa}'  their 
jurisdiction,  because,  they  believed  the 
court  w'ould  decide  the  act  of  reconstruc¬ 
tion  unconstitutional ;  and,  with  unspeak¬ 
able  sorrow',  we  saw'  that  court  suspend  its 
decision  for  Congress  to  pass  that  act.  A 
fatal  surrender! 

Mr.  Stevens  w'agcd  an  implacable  w'ar 
upon  President  Johnson,  who  strove,  in 


vain,  to  save  the  policy  of  his  predecessor. 

The  struggle  w'as  long,  earnest,  and  in¬ 
tense.  But  that  policy  was  overborne ;  and 
reconstruction,  under  the  Constitution, 
gave  w'ay  to  military  reconstruction  outside 
of  it,  and  even  to  a  reconstruction  of  the 
Constitution  itself,  culminating  in  the 
XIVth  and  XVth  amendments. 

General  Grant,  who  at  the  beginning, 
W'as  opposed  to  it,  yielded  himself  to  the 
radical  policy  and  was  elected  president  in 
1808. 

A  partial  reconstruction  of  the  supreme 
court  soon  follow'ed ;  and  then  every  de¬ 
partment  of  the  government  was  brought 
in  unison  w'ith  it. 

That  reconstruction  has  been  carried  into 
eflect.  It  has  become  a  i)art  of  the  history  of 
the  country.  How'ever  much  we  may  have 
opposed  it,  w'e  cannot  ignore  the  fact,  that, 
whether  fairly  adopted  or  not,  whether  by 
force  or  bj'  fraud  in  the  elections,  the  four¬ 
teenth  and  flfteenth  amendments  have  been 
proclaimed  and  adopted  under  all  the  forms 
of  law',  as  part  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States ;  and  they  are  formally  ac¬ 
cepted  and  acted  upon,  as  such,  by  every 
department  of  the  government. 

The  view's  and  purposes  of  the  demo- 
CKitic  party  and  of  all  w'ho  opposed  the 
adoption  of  those  amendments,  have  been 
frequently  called  in  question,  and  that,  quite 
recentl3',  by  Senator  Morton  and  Speaker 
Blaine,  whom  I  regard  as  the  leaders  of  the 
administration  party. 

They  say  in  substance  because  the  demo¬ 
cratic  pai'ty,  opposed  military  reconstruc¬ 
tion,  and  voted  against  those  amendments 
in  Congress  and  the  State  Legislatures,  it 
intends  Avhen  it  comes  into  pow'er,  and 
come  it-  w  ill,  to  disregard  those  amend¬ 
ments  and  set  them  aside. 

In  saying  this,  they  assert  what  they 
cannot  know'  to  be  true,  and  they  assert 
what  w'c  know'  cannot  be  true.  Long  be¬ 
fore,  Mr.  Vallandigham  said  anything  up¬ 
on  the  subject  the  address  of  the  democra¬ 
tic  \ncmbcrs  of  Congress  declared  the  con¬ 
trary  in  the  following  words. 

“We  earnestly  entreat  our  fellow'-citizens 
in  all  parts  of  the  union  to  spare  no  eflfort 
to  maintain  ])eace  and  order;  to  care¬ 
fully  protect  the  rights  of  every  citizen  ;  to 
preserve  kindly  relations  among  all  men, 
and  to  discountenance  and  discourage  any 
violation  of  the  rights  of  any  portion  of 
the  people  secured  under  the  constitution 
by  any  of  the  amendments.”  As  to  Mr.  Val¬ 
landigham  it  might  have  been  a  new  de¬ 
parture,  but  to  democratic  members  of 
Congress  the  leaders  of  the  party  it  was 
no  new  departure. 

How'  could  the  democratic  party  disre¬ 
gard  or  set  aside  those  amendments  if 
they  w'ould? 


6 


But  three  ways  cau  be  conceived  or 
have  ever  been  suggested. 

First.  By  obtaining  a  decision  of  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court,  declaring  them  void.  The 
present  Constitution  of  that  court 
makes  the  thing  impossible,  and  no  Dem¬ 
ocrat  w’ould  propose  to  reconstruct  the 
Supreme  Court  to  reverse  its  decision. 
They  honor  the  judiciary  too  much  to  do 
that.  Besides  it  is  almost  certain  that  upon 
all  such  political  questions  depending  upon 
the  results  of  elections  the  judiciary  would 
feel  bound  to  accept  and  to  follow  the  de¬ 
clarations  of  the  political  power — Congress 
and  the  Executive — that  the  Supreme 
Court  could  neither  take  judicial  notice  of 
events  depending  upon  elections  except  as 
they  are  declared,  nor  form  an  issue  to  try 
the  question  of  fact,  w^hether  a  constitu¬ 
tional  amendment  has  or  has  not  been  rat¬ 
ified  by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths  of 
all  the  States,  after  the  same  has  been  pro¬ 
claimed  duly  ratified  by  the  proper  officer 
under  the  forms  of  law. 

Second.  By  proposing  a  new  amendment 
to  set  them  aside  directly.  This  would  be 
a  legitimate  mode ;  but  is  wholly  imprac¬ 
ticable.  Beyond  question,  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  States  would  vote  against  it, 
and  three-fourths  are  required  to  carry  it. 
The  attempt  to  do  so  would  renew  the 
agitation  of  the  negro  question  in  another 
form,  but  could  bring  no  practical  result. 
Besides,  all  parties.  North  and  South,  are 
unwilling  to  reopen  that  question. 

The  negro  is  free  and  none  would  en¬ 
slave  him ;  and  negro  sulTrage  has  become 
a  fixed  fact, — a  thing  accomplished,  and 

Third;  The  only  other  possible  mode, 
is  the  military  one,  of  using  the  army  to 
control  elections,  and  to  change  the  Con¬ 
stitution. 

Radicals,  like  Senator  Morton,  might 
consistently  adopt  this  mode ;  for,  they  do 
not  hesitate  to  put  the  army  above  the 
Constitution  and  the  civil  law,  in  order  to 
control,  or  to  set  aside  elections.  But  no 
man  who  still  cherishes  the  doctrines  of 
the  old  Democratic  Republican  school  of 
Jefferson  and  of  Jackson  w^ould  dare  to 
use  the  standing  army  for  any  such  pur¬ 
pose. 

Besides,  the  attempt  to  take  awa}’^  negro 
suffrage  by  force,  would  lead  to  a  bloody 
struggle,  probably  to  civil  war,  and  with¬ 
out  doing  any  good,  would  involve  greater 
evils  ^han  now  exist. 

I  should  not  have  dwelt  upon  this  sub¬ 
ject  so  long,  but  for  the  constant  efforts  of 
our  radical  opponents  to  place  us  in  a  false 
position ;  and  to  charge  us  with  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  dealing  with  the  constitution,  as 
they,  themselves  have  done,  viz :  to  recon¬ 
struct  it  by  the  sword  and  to  renew  civil 
Strife. 


And  now,  gentlemen,  let  me  inquire 
what  are  the  issues,  and  duties,  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  hour  ? 

First.  In  relation  to  these  amendments, 
we  cannot  expect  a  decision  of  the  supreme 
court  to  annul  them — we  do  not  jiropose 
a  new  amendment  to  set  them  aside ; — and 
least  of  all  by  the  sword. 

But  the  question  arises,  how  will  you 
remedy  the  unbearable  evils,  which  now' 
rest  upon  the  Southern  States?  You  know 
the  disfranchisement  of  hundreds  of  thous¬ 
ands  of  the  mostintelligent  whites,  and  the 
universal  suflrage  of  the  blacks,  led  by  ad¬ 
venturers,  with  the  aid  of  the  standing 
army,  has  subjected  that  people  to  the 
worst  form  of  government,  and  taxed, 
robbed,  burdened  and  humiliated  them  be¬ 
yond  descriDtion. 

Will  you  ignore  all  that  and  leave  them 
without  remedy  ?  No  gentlemen.  The  reme¬ 
dy  we  propose  is  one  to  cure,  and  not  to  ag¬ 
gravate  the  disease.  In  the  language 
of  the  Democratic  Congressional  ad¬ 
dress  :  “  Our  hopes  for  redress 

are  in  the  calm,  good  sense  of  the  sober, 
second  thought  of  the  American  people. 
We  call  upon  them  to  be  true  to  themselv¬ 
es  and  to  their  past,  and  disregarding  party 
name  and  minor  differences,  to  insist  upon 
a  decent  equalization  of  powder  the  restric¬ 
tion  of  federal  power  w  ithin  its  just  and 
proper  limits,  leaving  to  the  states  that 
control  of  their  domestic  aflairs  that  is  es-  ' 
sential  to  their  happiness  and  tranquility 
and  good  government. 

They  appeal  to  the  reason  and 
returning  sense  of  justice,  mag¬ 
nanimity  and  fraternal  feeling  of  all  the 
people  North  and  South,  in  favor  of  Am¬ 
nesty.  In  this  appeal  large  numbers,  thous¬ 
ands  upon  thousands  of  liberal  Republicans 
like  Browm  and  Schurz,  of  Missouri  have 
already  joined.  The  negroes  themselves  at 
the  South  wfill  join  in  demanding  amnesty 
for  their  late  masters.  The  example  of 
Missouri  cannot  long  be  resisted.  The 
Choctaw'S  and  Cherokees  in  their  treaties 
of  peace  six  years  ago  gave  univei’sal  am¬ 
nesty;  and,  their  example  should  shame 
Christian  white  men  out  of  a  policy  resting 
on  unforgiving  hate  or  unmanly  fear. 

The  sentiment  must  become  near¬ 
ly  universal  for  amnesty,  and  tw'o 
thirds  of  Congress  will  vote 
for  the  bill. 

Although  late  in  coming  it  will  tend  to 
restore  fraternal  feeling.  It  will  certainly 
restore  to  intelligence  and  character  at  the 
South,  a  voice  oiice  more  in  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  its  local  affairs,  and  I'estorc  to 
those  states  what  they  have  not  had  for 
years,  a  Republican  form  of  Government. 

Gentlemen,  among  other  important 
issues  of  the  present  the  gi'eatest  is  this ; 


7 


viz :  whether  our  government  [is  to  be  in 
substance  if  not  in  form,  revoiiitionized  ? 

Whether  the  federal  government  is  to 
remain,  as  our  fathers  made  it  based  upon 
a  written  constitution,  limiting  and  defin¬ 
ing  its  powers,  and  reserving  the  mass  of 
powers  not  delegated  to  the  seveml  states 
imd  to  the  people ;  p:)r  whether  it  is  to  be¬ 
come  a  government  of  unlimited  and  cen- 
ti-alized  power  ?  In  a  word,  whether  the 
United  States  shall  continue  to  be  a  Union 
of  States,  under  the  constitution  or  become 
a  centralized  desix)tism,  at  Washington,  to 
be  mled  by  the  secret  resolves  of  a  caucus, 
and  by  the  President  at  the  head  of  the  army. 

Our  faithful  representatives  at  Wash¬ 
ington,  say: 

“  Under  the  pretence  of  passing  laws  to 
enforce  the  Fourteenth  amendment  and 
for  other  purposes.  Congress  has  conferred 
the  most  despotic  powers  upon  the  execu¬ 
tive,  and  provided  an  official  machinery  by 
which  the  liberties  of  the  people  arc  men¬ 
aced  and  the  sacred  rights  of  local  self- 
government  in  the  states  is  ignored,  if 
not  tyrannically  overthrown.  Modeled  by 
the  sedition  laws  so  odious  in  histoiy,  they 
are  at  variance  with  all  the  sanctified  the¬ 
ories  of  our  institutions,  and  the  construc¬ 
tion  given  by  these  radical  interpcters  to 
the  Fourteenth  amendment  is,  to  use  the 
language  of  an  eminent  senator — Mr. 
Trumbull  of  Illinois,  “an  annihilator  of  the 
states.”  Under  the  last  enforcement  bill, 
the  executive  may  in  his  discretion  thrust 
aside  the  government  of  any  state ;  sus¬ 
pend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ;  arrest  its 
governor ;  imprison  or  disperse  its  legisla¬ 
ture  ;  silence  its  judges,  and  trample  down 
its  people.  Under  the  armed  heel  of  his 
troops,  nothing  is  left  to  the  citizens  or 
state  which  can  any  longer  be  called  a 
right :  all  is  changed  into  mere  sufferance.” 

As  certain  as  we  live  this  is  the  great  is¬ 
sue  and  danger  upon  us  now. 

Everybody  feels  that  a  revolution  is  go¬ 
ing  on  in  that  direction; — the veiy ground 
giving  way  under  our  feet.  Radicals  ad¬ 
mit  it.  Some  avow  and  justify  it ;  and 
some  of|the  best  friends  of  Republican  gov¬ 
ernment  fear  that  revolution  has  already 
gone  too  far  to  be  arrested.  But  gentle¬ 
men  let  us  not  despiiir,  truth  will  rise 
again. 

In  the  nature  of  things,  in  our  system  of 
govemment,  two  forces  are  always  at  w’ork, 
like  the  two  forces  in  our  planetary  sys¬ 
tem  ; — the  one  tending  to  draw  all  planets 
to  the  centre ; — the  other  to  take  them  out 
of  the  system  altogher. 

They  have  been  constantly  straggling 
with  each  other  from  the  beginning  and 
from  before  the  beginning. 

Aft  by  a  compromise  of  forces  the  plan¬ 
ets  were  made  to  revolve,  in  their  orbits 


around  the  sun,  so  by  a  wi.se  compromise 
and  balance  of  forces,  in  our  political  sys¬ 
tem,  our  composite  form  of  government 
was  made. 

To  the  federal  government  was  given 
certain  defined  and  delegated  powers  ne¬ 
cessary  to  the  Union,  to  the  common  de¬ 
fence,  and  to  the  general  welfare. 

All  the  remainder,  except  ju.st  enough  to 
carry  into  effect  the  powers  delegated, 'were 
reserved  to  the  States  and  to  the  people. 
With  men  of  extreme  views  and  radical 
tendencies,  it  seems  almost  impossible  to 
comprehend  a  limitation  of  rights  and 
powers. 

To  illustrate :  With  the  radicals  of  the 
South,  and  I  might  add,  some  at  the  North, 
before  the  war,  the  Federal  Government 
had  no  rights  the  States  w^ere  bound  to 
respect. 

The  w'ar,  I  think,  has  cured  or  ought  to 
cure  that  delusion,  but  I  fear  it  has  given 
rise  to  another ;  for,  since  the  ^var  the  rad¬ 
icals  of  the  North  seem  to  think  the  States 
have  no  rights  the  Federal  Government  is 
bound  to  respect ;  and,  this  last  delusion  is 
as  dangerous  to  liberty  as  the  first. 

Extreme  follo'ws  extreme.  The  pendu¬ 
lum,  from  one  side  of  the  arc,  swings  al¬ 
ways  to  the  other ;  and,  the  higher  it  rises 
on  the  one  side,  the  higher  it  rises  on  the 
other. 

The  rebound  from  a  war  begun  upon  the 
southern  radical’s  idea  of  all  power  in  the 
States,  is  now,  under  the  lead  of  those  who 
control  this  administration,  fast  driving  all 
power  into  the  Federal  Government. 

I  repeat,  m  my  opinion,  gentlemen,  the 
real  issue  paramount  over  all  others,  at  this 
moment,  is,  whether  the  true  republican 
form  of  government  of  our  fathers  shall 
give  way  to  centralization  and  to  military 
despotism. 

It  has  already  made  long  strides  in  that 
direction. 

The  great  duty  of  the  democratic  party, 
and  of  all  who  love  republican  liberty,  is  to 
bury  all  the  issues  of  the  past  and  to  unite 
in  an  honest,  earnest,  self-sacrificing  effort 
to  arre.’^t  the  further  progress  of  that  revo¬ 
lution.  ^  We  can  only  do  that  by  a  change 
of  administration ;  by  restoring,  as  far  as 
the  constitution  will  allow  it,  to  state  legis¬ 
latures,  state  judiciaries,  state  executives, 
and  state  militaiy  forces,  the  defense  and 
maintenance  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
the  people,  which  centralized  power  can¬ 
not  defend,  but  will  certainly  destroy — by 
placing  the  civil  above  the  military  power, 
in  all  the  states ;  by  reducing  the  standing 
army — that  standing  menace  of  all  repub¬ 
lics — with  its  life  tenures,  aristocratic  ten¬ 
dencies  and  extravagant  expenditures  to  the 
peace  standard — and  by  preventing  its  fur- 


•  < 

llicr  iiitorlLTCiicc  with  the  freedom  of  elec 
lions. 

Other  issues  and  duties  of  great  import¬ 
ance  rest  upon  us  also,  grow  ing’  out  of  our 
foreign  relations,  tinance,  national  debt, 
tariff  and  internal  revenue  reform. 

Gentlemen,  let  us  organize  for  victory 
and  not  for  defeat  in  the  next  great  con¬ 
test.  Many  who  were  divided  upon  tlie 
issues  of  the  past  are  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  us  now'  upon  the  issues  of  the  ])res- 
ent,  and  many  more  are  coming.  Let  them 
all  come.  Let  us  restore  to  its  prestige  and 
power  the  old  Democratic  Republican 
party  of  Jefferson,  of  Madison,  and  of 
Jackson. 

Let  us  cordially  invite  to  its  support  all 
who  are  with  us  upon  the  great  issues  in¬ 
volved, — all  who  love  republican  institu¬ 
tions  as  established  by  our  fathers,  in  sub¬ 
stance  as  w'cll  as  in  name  ;  all  who  cherish 


republican  simplicity,  integrity,  economy 
and  fidelity.every  where  in  State  and  Federal 
administration  ;  all  who  w'ould  lighten  the 
heavy  pecuniary  burdens  of  our  people  by 
their  more  equal  and  just  distribution ;  and 
all  who,  while  maintaining  the  national  faith 
and  honor  inviolate,  look  forw'ard  w'ith  hope 
and  courage  to  the  return  of  that  period 
when  the  burdens  of  the  general  govern¬ 
ment  will  be  as  light  as  its  blessings  are 
benehcent,  when  the  rich  will  not  be  made 
richer,  and  the  poor  poorer,  by  act  of 
Congress ;  when  the  federal  and  state  gov¬ 
ernments  each  ill  their  sphere,  protecting 
the  equal  rights  of  all,  and  granting  favors 
to  none,  shall,  in  the  language  of  General 
Jackson  bestow'  their  blessings  “  like  the 
dew's  of  Heaven  unseen  and  unfelt  save  in 
the  richness  and  beauty  they  contribute  to 
produce.” 


SPEECH  OF  nois'.  J.  R.  DOOLITTLE 

Fellow'-\utizens,  Democrats  and  Re¬ 
publicans  :  Here,  at  my  home,  w'here  I 
have  lived  among  you  more  than  20  years, 
allow  me  to  say  a  few'  w'ords  to  you  to¬ 
night,  as  neighbors  and  friends,  without 
any  reserve. 

You  have  known  me  long  and  well.  You 
know,  from  my  youth  up,  I  have  been 
trained  in  the  political  schools  of  Jeffer¬ 
son.  of  Madison,  and  of  Jackson.  Of 
Jefferson,  I  learned  to  love  the  equal  rights 
of  men,  a  doctrine  borrowed  from  the 
Great  Teacher  who  said  ‘‘  Love  th}^  neigh¬ 
bor  as  thyself,” — to  be  applied  to  political 
affairs  ;  from  Him  I  learned  to  hate  every 
form  of  tyranny  over  the  bodies  and  the 
souls  of  men.  [Applause].  From  Madi¬ 
son  I  learned  to  cherish  that  which  dis¬ 
tinguishes  us  above  all  nations,  viz.,  w'ritten 
constitutions,  in  order  to  define  and  limit 
the  pow'ers  of  all  governments,  state  and 
federal;  that  without  such  limitation  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  no  man  and  no  peo¬ 
ple  can  be  secure  in  the  states ;  and,  that  as 
between  the  state  governments  and  the 
federal  government,  unless  the  hitter  be 
limited  by  the  constitution  to  the  pow'ers 
delegated,  and  the  states  and  people  be  left 
free  to  regulate  their  own  domestic  affairs 
in  their  own  w’ay,  all  power  will  be  cen¬ 
tralized,  and  republicanism  give  way  to  im¬ 
perialism.  [Applause.]  In  the  school  of 
Jackson  I  learned  to  love  the  union  of  the 
states,  and  to  oppose  nullification  and  se¬ 
cession  ;  and,  as  to  all  the  pow'ers  delegated, 
to  cherish  the  constitution  which  made 
that  union  as  the  higher  law  of  liberty  and 
of  national  life.  [Applause.] 

These  ideas,  amidst  the  troublous  times 
through  which  w'c  have  passed,  amidst  all 


,  DELIVERED  AT  RACINE,  SEPT.  2. 

the  confusion  and  mutations  of  parties, 
have  been  the  guide  and  the 
secret  of  my  life.  I  may  some¬ 
times  have  erred.  But  to  those  great 
ideas,which  in  my  judgment  are  the  basis  of 
all  true  republican  government,  and  which 
are  now'  the  basis  of  the  democratic-republi¬ 
can  part}',  as  organized  in  this  state,  and 
organizing  everywhere  throughout  the  un¬ 
ion,  I  have  at  all  times  steadfastly  adhered, 
in  good  and  evil  rejiorts,  in  sunshine  and 
ill  storm,  w  hether  cheered  or  denounced 
by  many  or  by  few.  [Great  applause.] 

And  my  friends,  do  you  ask  me  the  se¬ 
cret  of  that  strength,'  the  power  of  that 
faith,  which  in  danger  knows  no  fear,  and 
in  darkness  feels  no  doubt.  The  siuiple 
answ'er  is,  I  believe.  In  my  soul,  I  believe 
those  ideas  are  true,  and  truth  is  everlast¬ 
ing, — the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever, — and  the  soul  that  reposes  upon 
truth  loans  on  the  Almighty  for  its 
strength. 

Ills  CANDIDACY. 

A  few'  words  now'  of  a  personal  nature. 
I  find  I  shall  not  be  able  to  enter  fully  into 
the  canvass  until  after  the  middle  of  the 
month,  having  some  private  engagements 
w  hich  cannot  be  postponed. 

The  action  of  the  convention  at  Madison 
in  placing  me  in  nomination  for  governor, 
Avas  w'holly  unexpected  to  us  all,  and  to  no 
one  more  than  to  myself.  Being  at  work 
at  Madison  as  an  arbitrator,  my  friends  in 
Racine  county  named  me  as  a  delegate,and 
desired  me  to  speak  to  the  convention.  I 
conser/cd  to  do  that;  but  I  had  no  thought 
of  being  named  for  governor,  or  that  the 
speech  I  had  prepared  Avould  become  a 
speech  of  acceptance.  But  there  Ai\  as  such 


0 


a  unanimous,  warm,  and  earnest  appeal  to 
me  to  accept  tliat  I  could  not  do  otherwise. 
It  was  the  old  men  who  appealed  to  me  in 
the  name  of  the  young  democracy.  They 
said,  all  old  issues  are  passed  away ;  that 
the  young  men  were  earnest,  persistent, en¬ 
thusiastic,  eager  for  work  and  sanguine  of 
victory,  and  that  many  republincan  were 
everywhere  ready  to  ,ioin  with  us.  They 
said,  in  substance,  “The  old  democratic-re¬ 
publican  party  is  rising  again  from  the 
ashes  of  the  past,  redeemed,  regenerated, 
and  disenthralled  from  all  dead  is^sues. 
freed  from  old  hates  and  old  prejudiccs,and 
if  I  would  consent  to  be  placed  at  the  head 
of  that  ticket,  against  Gen.  Washburn,who 
was  sure  to  be  nominated  by  the  federal 
office-holders  as  their  candidate,  they  could 
carry  'Wisconsin  this  fall.”  It  was  assur¬ 
ances  and  appeals  like  these,  which  come 
from  every  part  of  the  state,  which  prevail¬ 
ed,  and  the  nomination  was  accepted. 

THE  ISSUES. 

I  observe  some  of  the  radical  newspapers 
say  that  the  action  of  our  convention  was 
a  mere  matter  of  form.  Never  were  men 
more  mistaken.  How  do  they  kno'i>"  that  ? 
Our  convention  certainly  did  not  say  that, 
and,  judging  from  its  action  it  means  any¬ 
thing  but  that.  Its  spirit,  unanimity,  en¬ 
thusiasm,  mean  earnest  work;  a  .struggle 
for  truth,  justice,  liberty,  and  equality,  un¬ 
der  a  government  of  limited  powers.  It 
sa5^s,  as  to  the  dead  issues  of  the  past,  “Let  j 
the  dead  bury  their  dead.”  As  to  the  liv-  i 
ing  issues  of  the  present,  it  says,  “  Strike 
hands  with  all  those  who  are  aiready  with 
you  and  with  all  who  are  willing  to  join 
you  upon  the  living  issues,  whether  they 
iiave  been  with  you  or  against  you  upon 
the  dead  ones.”  [Applause.] 

The  committee  calling  our  convention, 
following  the  suggestions  of  the  address  of 
the  democratic  and  conservative  members 
of  congress,  invited  all  to  unite  in  choosing 
delegates  who  believed  in  the  doctrines  an¬ 
nounced,  and  also  to  take  part  in  its  pro¬ 
ceedings.  The  convention,  its  platform, 
and  candidates,all  speak  the  same  language. 

They  invite  all  democrats,  and  invite  all 
republicans  to  unite  togetlier  as  a  band  of 
brothers  upon  the  living  issues  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  ;  to  march  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
the  present  struggle,  upon  the  footing  of 
perfect  equality,  with  a  strong  resolve  to 
deserve  and  to  achieve  victory. 

As  I  stated  in  my  speech  of  acceptance, 
the  main  issue  before  us  is,  whether  the 
rights  of  the  states  to  regulate  their  own 
domestic  affairs  should  be  respected,  or 
whether  all  power  should  be  centralized  at 
'W ashington.  I  repeat  that  statement  of 
the  issue,  and  I  ask  every  honest  republi¬ 
can  in  this  state,  if  that  centralizing  pow- 


ei' was  not  felt  in  the  republican  conven¬ 
tion  which  nominated  Gen.  'VVhshburn?  I 
ask  you,  my  republican  friends,  do  you  not 
feel  at  this  moment,  here  in  Wisconsin,  the 
w'orkings  of  that  centralizing  power? 

GEN.  WASHBURN 

is  my  irersonal  friend,  and  of  him  I  shall 
never  speak  in  any  other  terms  than  of 
friendship  and  esteem,  and  shall  undoubted¬ 
ly  accept  his  invitation  to  canvass  the  state. 
Ihit  how  was  his  nomination  made  ?  Was 
it  not  the  jiressiire  of  the  federal  patronage 
and  power  which  produced  it?  True,  it 
did  not  at  Madison  what  it  lately  did  at 
New  Orleans,  i)lace  a  company  of  soldiers 
at  the  door  of  the  convention  to  exclude 
all  who  had  no  tickets  from  the  adminis¬ 
tration.  We  have  not  quite  come  to  that 
yet  in  Wisconsin.  But  do  you  not  feel 
that  it  was  the  army  of  fedeiul  officeholders 
who  dictated  that  nomination  ?  The  men 
who  led  that  army  \vorc  no  epaulettes,  but 
they  wielded  federal  powers  and  produced 
that  result.  Arc  there  not  thousands — 
many  thousands — of  republicans  in  Wis¬ 
consin  who  have  not  yet  Aucldcd  to  the 
revolution  in  favor  of  centralization,  who 
are  ready,  now'  that  all  old  issues  are 
closed  up,  to  rebuke  this  federal  dictation 
and  assert  the  rights  of  a  free  state  to  nom¬ 
inate  as  well  as  to  elect  its  own  officers? 
Can  there  be  a  better  time  to  do  so  than 
now?  “Now’s  the  day  and  now’s  the 
hour.” 

MILITARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Military  ideas  are  good  enough  in  war, 
but  wholl}''  out  of  place  in  the  civil  admin¬ 
istration  of  a  republican  government,  for 
that  rests  upon  the  people,  to  whom  their 
chosen  officers  or  agents  are  responsible. 
With  army  men,  we  know  obedience  is  the 
word,  on  pain  of  iiiqirisoniiient  or  of  death. 
The  private  soldier  is  a  mere  machine. 
But  in  republican  government  every  man 
is  a  sovereign,  and  the  officers  chosen  arc 
responsible  to  him,  and  not  he  to  them. 
[Applause.]  Leaders  of  a  party  long  in 
power  learn  to  prefer  the  military  to  the 
re])ublican  idea,  and  to  act  as  if  tlie}'  were 
the  masters  and  not  the  servants  of  the 
people.  A  change  is  some  times  necessary 
to  get  lid, of  the  domination  of  leaders,  ami 
to  teach  them  over  again  their  first  lesson, 
that  in  republican  freedom  the  people  rule 
their  servants,  and  not  that  the  servants 
shall  rule  their  masters.  [Great  applause.] 

THE  CANVASS. 

I  do  not  intend  to  make  a  long  speech 
to-night.  When  our  central  committee 
and  my  associates  shall  look  the  ground 
over,  and  assign  to  me  my  share  in  the 
great  work,  after  the  canvass  opens  I  pur¬ 
pose  to  discuss  quite  thoroughly  the  que-s- 
tions  involved  ;  as  to  the  best  means  of 


% 


10 


restoring  fraternal  feeling  between  the 
north  and  south ;  of  healing  the  wounds  of 
war ;  of  removing  the  evils  growing  out  of 
military  reconstruction  and  carpet-bag 
nile  at  the  south,  and  to  answer  the  argu¬ 
ments  of  Senator  Morton,  and  of  those 
who  repeat  them.  For  the  present  I  will 
only  read  part  of  a  statement  made  by  a 
confederate  officei*  in  presence  of  1,200 
confederate  soldiers,  gathered  together  at  a 
social  reunion  in  Missouri.  I  wish  eveiy 
republican  could  read  it.  I  refer  to  the 
speech  of  ex-Gov.  Reynolds,  of  Missouri, 
an  officer  in  the  rebel  a]■m^^  It  shows 

WHAT  EKFRAJsCHISEMEN'i'  HAS  DONE  IN 
MISSOURI, 

and  clearly  vindicates  the  course  of  its 
present  able  governor,  B.  Gratz  Brown, 
and  that  senator,  formerly  a  resident  of 
our  state,  who,  I  think,  as  an  orator  has 
few  equals,  and  as  a  wu-iter  no  superior  in 
America — Carl  Schurz.  I  refer  to  their 
course  in  urging  universal  amnesty  as  a 
basis  of  permanent  peace.  Missouri  has 
demonstrated  that  love  is  stronger  than 
hate ;  that  deeds  of  charit}^  and  forgive¬ 
ness  can  win  what  acts  of  oppression  and 
hutniliation  can  never  wring  from  the 
hearts  of  brave  men, — lojnlty  and  affec¬ 
tion. 

Read  it  fellow  citizens,  and  ask  your 
neighbors  to  read  it.  Manhood,  renewed 
loyalty,  and  affection  breathe  in  every 
word.  It  reaches  every  heart. 

In  his  speech  at  Roanoke,  jMo,,  on  the 
23d  of  August  last,  he  said  : 

“  We  meet  together  for  the  first  time  in 
the  six  years  wdiich  have  passed  since  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  one  of  the  first  im¬ 
pulses  of  every  one  of  us  must  be  to  con¬ 
gratulate  ourselves  on  the  course  of  events 
which  has  led  to  our  re-infranchisement  as 
citizens  of  Missouri.  We,  of  course,  find 
not  a  few  wdio  claim  our  special  gratitude 
to  themselves  as  the  authors  or  engineers 
of  the  movement  which  resulted  in  that 
change.  Without  denying  to  any  one  the 
praise  he  may  be  entitled  to  for  his  course 
in  advocating  a  measure  which  had  become 
inevitable,  we  must  be  permitted  to  re¬ 
member  that  we  ow'e  it  mainly  to  ourselves, 
to  the  "svise,  patriotic,  and  self-respecting 
conduct  of  the  Missouri  confederates  in 
quitely  attending  to  their  private  affairs 
during  the  period  of  oiu'  disfi'anchisement, 
and  thus  convincing  our  late  foes,  by  deeds 
rather  than  words,  that  there  w'as  no  dan¬ 
ger  to  the  peace  and  w’elfare  of  the  state  in 
restoring  us  to  jiolitical  equality  with  them¬ 
selves.  , 

“  By  a  like  course  in  the  use  of  our  re¬ 
covered  biith-right  w^e  can  and  should  con¬ 
tribute  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  our 
noble  state  and  of  the  wdiole  union.  It  is 


solely  with  that  view^  that,  believing  that 
I  well  know  your  feelings  and  pinions,  I 
venture  to  jndicate  them  on  some  few 
points. 

“  While  all  merely  political  questions  of 
the  day  are,  by  our  own  free  decision,  ex¬ 
cluded  ‘jfrom  consideration  on  this  oc¬ 
casion,  there  are  other  subjects  not  yet 
brought  into  the  arena  of  actual  political 
strife,  but  specially  referring  to  ns,  on 
wiiich  it  is  almost  a  duty  to  ourselves  and 
the  country  that  our  views  should  be 
known.  There  are  certain  ghosts  of  dead 
questions  wdiich  haunt  the  imagination  of 
some  of  our  people,  and  in  aiding  to  allay 
them  we  contribute  to  the  w’elfare  of  our 
common  country.  Senator  Morton  in  a 
very  able  and  candid  speech,  has  expressed 
apprehensions  whiclp  as  the  discourse  was 
delivered  last  week  in  the  chief  city  of  our 
state,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  for  us  to 
notice  here  and  now.  The}’’  were,  that  at 
some  future  period  the  existing  settlement 
of  the  issues  of  the  late  war  might  be  dis¬ 
turbed  by  a  refusal  to  pay  interest  on  the 
United  States  debt,  or  an  assumption  of  the 
debt  'of  the  late  confederate  states  and 
compensation  for  emancipated  slaves  ;  by  a 
refusal  to  pay  the  pensions  granted  to 
union  soldiers,  or  a  grant  of  like  pensions 
to  those  of  the  confederacy. 

“  It  may  with  almost  absolute  certainty 
be  asserted  that  as  far  as  the  confederates 
of  Missouri,  and,  I  am  confident,  those  of 
other  states,  are  concerned,  these  fears  are 
wholly  groundless.  We  have  played  at 
the  grand  game  of  civil  w’ar,  and  so  ably 
as  to  gain  the  admiration  of  the  world  and 
the  respect  of  magnanimous  opponents. 
We  lost  it  for  wvant  of  trumps,  but  w^e  dress 
at  least  our  fair  share  of  the  honors. 

“  Confederates,  and  especially  Missouri¬ 
ans,  are  not  the  men  to  attempt  afterward 
to  filch  the  stakes  from  the  winner.  The 
payment  of  the  interest  on  the  United 
States  debt,  and  the  principal  of  it  wlien 
due,  and  both  as  contracted  for,  is  secured 
by  a  principle  stronger  than  any  constitu¬ 
tional  amendment.  The  prosperity  of  all 
the  people  as  individuals  is  so  intimately 
connected  with  the  preservation  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  credit  that,  on  a  mere  calculation  of 
I  profit  and  loss,  it  is  better  to  preserve  the 
j  latter  as  the  basis  of  the  former.  We  con- 
I  federates  have  as  much  interest  in  preserv- 
i  ing  both  as  any  other  citizens.  No  one 
I  who  is  familiar  with  events  in  the  confed- 
i  emey  in  the  last  years  of  the  wnr  w’ill  ever 
I  dream  of  an  assumption  by  any  one  of  any 
of  its  obligations,  wdiether  in  bonds  or  for 
loss  of  property  in  slaves,  or  anything  else. 
Not  only  by  general  public  law,  but  also 
by  the  express  terms  of  the  contract,  every 
creditor  of  the  confederacy  made  his  repay¬ 
ment  dependent  upon  the  e.stabli.shment  of 


11 


itB  indepenflence,  and,  as  it  failed  to  secure 
it,  lie  has  no  claim,  either  legal  or  moral. 
You,  soldiers,  know  that,  even  when  suc¬ 
cess  was  possible,  the  common  talk  in  the 
camps  was  that  the  amount  actually  receiv¬ 
ed  by  the  confederacy  for  its  bonds  and 
notes  was  in  such  ridiculous  disproportion 
to  the  amount  promised  to  be  paid  that  no 
sense  of  abstract  law  or  justice  would  se¬ 
cure  their  payment. 

“How  then  would  you  receive  a  propo¬ 
sal  now,  to  tax  yourselves  to  pay  anything 
whatever  on  them  when  bought  up,as  they 
certainly  would  be,on  any  prospect  of  gain 
on  them,  by  sordid  speculators,  for  a  mere 
song?  With  regard  to  losses  of  property, 
from  the  horses  which  many  of  you  whom 
I  now  see  before  me  had  killed  under  you 
in  some  gallant  charge,  up  to  the  millions 
lost  in  slaves  by  some  unionist  or  lukewarm 
planter,  who  'denied  you  their  labor  to 
aid  you  in  erecting  breastworks  against 
federal  balls,  all  must  go  alike  the  road 
which  universal  public  law  marks  out  for 
the  unsuccessful  in  civil  war.  One  pays 
Ills  stake  in  life  or  limb, ;  another  in  loss 
of  property,  or  exile,  or  both.  Let  each 
one  support  manfully  the  adverse  fortune 
of  war,  and  not  degrade  the  cause  for  which 
he  fought  by  going  about  to  the  victors, 
whinning  for  compensation. 

“You,  at  least,  and  I  believe  nearly  all 
confederates,  will  not  countenance  anj^one 
in  so  doing.  The  pension  questions  will 
be  summarily  disposed  of  by  anyone  who 
knows  the  confederate  soldiers.  For  us  to 
accept  any  compensation  from  the  govern¬ 
ment  against  which  we  fought,  would  be 
to  receive  alms ;  it  is  to  be  hoped  no  dema¬ 
gogues  will  ever  insult  us  by  proposing  to 
us  any  such  meanness.  To  the  union  sol¬ 
dier  his  pension  is  an  honorable  distinction 
conlerred  on  him  by  the  government  he 
served,  and,  according  to  law  or  usage,  a 
part  of  compensation  pledged  to  him  be¬ 
fore  he  entered  the  service.  Opposing  ar¬ 
mies  have  a  certain  feeling  of  fellowship, as 
even  the  general  public  began  to  notice  in 
the  intercourse  between  tlie  federal  and 
general  outjwsts ;  if  any  demagogue  pro¬ 
proposes  to  take  their  pensions  from  union 
soldiers,  let  them  call  across  the  line  to  us 
'if  they  need  help,  and  we  will  marcli  with 
them  in  solid  column  to  the  ballot-box  to 
put  the  swindle  down.” 


THE  FINANCIAL  SITUATION. 

It  will  be  my  purpose  also  during  the 
canvass  to  discuss  the  great  questions  of 
taxation,  finance,  revenue  and  tariff  reform 
and  the  best  manner  of  simplifying  and 
economizing  in  the  collection  of  taxes  and 
revenue ;  and  to  relieve  and  equalize,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to 
apportion  them  in  some  proportion,  to  the 
ability  to  bear  them.  • 

You  all  remember  that  Gen.  Washburn 
told  the  people  of  Racine,  in  our  joint  dis¬ 
cussion  here  in  1808,  that  t  he  people  were 
never  so  prosperous  as  since  the  close  of 
tlie  war.  Speaker  Blaine  has  also  in¬ 
dulged  in  the  same  strain  quite  recently. 
But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  within 
the  past  few  years  Mr.  Blaine  has  become 
a  very  rich  man,  a  millionaire,  it  is  said  ; 
and  how  can  he  sympathize  with  or  know 
the  true  condition  of  the  common  people, 
or  the  burdens  they  now  bear?”  We  all 
know  that  while  the  fortunate  few  may 
have  become  suddenly  rich  and  are  above 
all  pecuniaiy  troubles,  the  great  mass  ©f 
the  people,  professional  men,  small  mer¬ 
chants,  traders,  mechanics,  farmers,  and  la¬ 
borers  never  felt  the  burden  of  taxation 
and  the  struggle  for  a  respectable  and  hon¬ 
est  livelihood  more  than  now.  To  show 


now  WE  ARE  NOW  TAXED 


I  read  from  a  list  which  I  have  had  no 
time  to  verify  by  actual  computation,  but 
which  I  believe  to  be  correct.  A  gentle- 
previously  engaged  in  commerce,  who  un¬ 
derstands  his  subject,  has  taken  pains  to  see 
what  the  duties  are  upon  a  few  leading  ar¬ 
ticles.  Look  at  the  list.  The  poor  man 
IS  taxed  : 


On  his  salt . 

On  his  pepper  . 

On  his  rice . 

On  his  soap, . 

On  his  starch . 

On  his  candles . 

On  the  sheets  of  his  bed . 

On  tlie  blankets  that  cover  him 

On  the  carpet  lie  buys . . 

On  his  window  cur’ains . 

On  his  knifes  and  forks . 

On  his  window  glass . 

Ob  his  water  pitcher . 

On  the  hat  he  wears . 

On  his  stockings . 

On  a  dress  of  silk  for  his  wife. . 

On  a  dress  of  woolen . 

On  a  shawl . 

On  a  handkerchief . 


Per  cent. 

. 108 

. 140 

.  85 

.  70 

. 51 

. 40 

.  55 

. 240 

.  30 

. 80 

.  35 

.  55 

.  40 

.  40 

.  75 

.  GO 

. 100 

. 200 

.  35 


After  reading  that,  we  may  not  agree 
with  all  he  says,  but  can  anyone  doubt  that 
lunnesty  is  the  best  way  to  restore  harmo-  i 
My  and  fraternal  feeling  in  all  of  the  states 
of  the  south  ?  Does  not  that  answer  all 
that  Senator  IVIorton  says  about  the  repu¬ 
diation  of  our  national  debt ;  of  our  sol¬ 
diers’  pensions,  and  of  the  assumption  of 
the  confederate  debt? 


The  farmer  is  taxed ; 

Percent. 


On  his  hoe  and  spade,  each . 41 

On  his  horse-shoes .  07 

On  his  plow .  45 

On  his  chairs . 100 

On  his  harness, .  25 

On  a  hand-saw .  75 

On  a  penknife .  50 

On  a  dinner  can .  35 

On  an  iron-hoop  pail  .  60 


12 


For  the  present,  I  will  conclude  what  I 
have  to  say  in  answer  to  Speaker  Blaine  on 
this  subject  by  reading  to  you  the  most 
eloquent  and  truthful  account  of  our  pres¬ 
ent  condition,  in  the  language  of  Sidney 
Smith,  written  more  than  40  years  ago.  I 
once  read  this  on  the  floor  of  the  senate. 
It  describes  our  condition  now  so  perfectly, 
it  seemed  so  like  prophesy,  that  senators 
sprang  to  their  feet  to  inquire  the  name  of 
the  author.  I*  commend  it  for  its  truth, 
and,  as  a  specimen  of  writing  of  unequaled 
simplicity  and  force,  I .  commend  it  to 
every  young  man.  Let  him  read  it  again 
and  "again.  Let  him  learn  it  by  heart,  and 
when  Gen.  AVashbvrn  or  Speaker  Blaine 
shall  tell  you  how  rich  you  are  and  how 
light  all  your  burdens  are,  repeat  it  to 
them : 

“Taxes  upon  every  article  which  enters 
into  the  mouth,  or  covers  the  back,  or  is 
placed  under  the  foot ;  taxes  upon  every¬ 
thing  which  it  is  pleasant  to  see,  hear,  feel 
smell,  or  taste ;  taxes  upon  warmth,  light, 
and  locomotion ;  taxes  on  everything  on 
earth  and  the  w'aters  under  the  earth ;  on 
eveiything  that  comes  from  abroad  or  is 
grown  at  liome  :  taxes  on  the  raw  material ; 
taxes  on  every  fresh  value  that  is  added  to 
it  by  the  industry  of  man ;  taxes  on  the 
sauce  which  pampers  man’s  appetite,  and 
the  drug  that  restores  him  to  health ;  on 
the  ermine  which  decorates  the  judge,  and 
the  rope  which  hangs  the  criminal ;  on  the 
poor  man’s  salt,  and  the  rich  man’s  spice ; 
on  the  brass  nails  of  the  coffin,  and  the 
ribbons  of  the  bride ;  at  bed  or  board, 
couchant  or  levant,  we  must  pay. 

“The  schoolboy  whirls  his  taxed  top ; 
the  beardless  youth  manages  his  taxed 
horse  with  a  taxed  bridle  on  a  taxed  road ; 
and  the  dying  Englishman,  pouring  his 
medicine  which  has  paid  7  per  cent,  into  a 
spoon  that  has  paid  15  per  cent. flings  him¬ 
self  back  upon  his  chintz  bed  which  has 
paid  22  per  cent,  makes  this  will  on  an  £8 
stamp,  and  expires  in  the  arms  of  an  apoth¬ 


ecary  who  has  paid  a  license  of  a  hundred 
pounds  for  privilege  of  putting  him  to 
death.  Ilis  whole  property  is  then  immed¬ 
iately  taxed  from  2  to  16  per  cent.  Besides 
the  probate,  a  large  fees  are  demanded  for 
burying  him  in  the  chancel ;  his  virtues  are 
handed  down  to  posterity  on  taxed  marble 
and  he  is  then  gathered  to  his  fathers,  to 
be  taxed  no  more.  [Great  applause,] 

Listen  again  to  his  prophetic  warnings 
to  us : 

’Tn  addition  to  all  this,  the  habit  of  deal¬ 
ing  Avith  large  sums  will  make  the  govern¬ 
ment  avaricious  and  profuse ;  and  the 
system  itself  will  infallibly  generate  the 
base  vermin  of  spies  and  informers,  and  a 
still  more  pestilent  race  of  political  tools 
and  retainers  of  the  meanest  and  most  odi¬ 
ous  description ;  while  the  prodigious  pat¬ 
ronage  wfliich  the  collecting  of  this  splen¬ 
did  revenue  will  throw  into  the  hands  of 
the  government  Avilf  invest  it  Avith  so  vast  an 
influence,  and  hold  out  such  means  and 
temptation  to  corruption  as  all  the  Aurtue 
and  public  spirit  even  of  republicans  anuII 
be  unable  to  resist.”  [Great  applause.] 

With  veiy  slight  modifleation,  it  describes 
our  condition  and  points  out  one  of  our 
greatest  dangers. 

IN  CONCLUSION, 

I  observe  that  the  neAA'spaper  at  Gen.Wash- 
burn’s  home  at  La  Crosse,  in  announcing 
my  nomination,  said  that  my  funeral  had 
already  taken  place,  my  requiem  had  been 
sung, "  “  Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust.” 
FelloAv-citizens,  men  are  sometimes  mis¬ 
taken,  and  never  more  so  than  when  the 
pride  of  erroneous  opinion  misleads  them. 
In  their  zeal,  they  often  forget  that  “  Truth 
crushed  to  earth  Avill  rise  again,”  and  that 
those  Avho  have  suffered  for  the  truth’s 
sake,  touched  by  her  hand,  will  rise  and 
triumph  Avith  her,  and  compel  even  her 
enemies  to  “believe  in  the  resurrection  and 
the  life.”  [Great  applause.] 


13 


Abstract  of  Proceedings  of  tlie  Demo¬ 
cratic  State  Convention. 

The  Convention  met  at  Madison  Aug. 
23  and  was  called  to  order  by  Hon.  xVn- 
drew  Proiidfit,  Chairman  of  the  State  Cen¬ 
tral  Committee.  On  motion  lion.  IT. 
L.  Palmer  was  chosen  temporary  Chainnan 
of  the  Convention  and  was  afterwards  se¬ 
lected  as  permanent  Chaimianby  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  permanent  organization. 

Hon.  O.  F.  Jones  and  E.  B.  Bolens 
Esq.,  were  chosen  Secretaries. 

On  an  informal  ballot  for  Governor,  Hon. 
Jas.  R.  Doolittle  received  123  out  of  152 
votes  cast,  and  on  motion  was  declared 
unanimous  nominee  of  the  convention. 

The  other  officers  chosen  were  as  fol- 
ows: 

For  Lieut.  Governor — 

John  A.  Rice,  of  Waukesha. 

For  Secretary  of  State — 

Milton  INIontgomeuy,  of  Monroe. 

For  State  Treasurer — 

Anton  Kl.vus,  of  Brown. 

For  Attorney  General — 

E.  S.  Bragg,  of  Fond  du  Lac. 

For  State  Prison  Commissioner — 

Lars  E.  JoiiNsbN,  of  La  Fayette. 

For  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — 
W.  D.  Parker,  of  Rock. 


For  Commissioner  of  Immigration— 
Jacor  Bodden,  of  Dodge. 

j\[r.  Orton,  of  La  Fayette  offered  a  reso¬ 
lution  providing  for  the  election  of  Chair¬ 
man  of  the  State  Central  Committee  by 
ballot,  and  the  appointment  b}"  delegates 
from  each  Congressional  District  of  the 
other  members  of  the  Committee,  which 
was  adopted. 

Convention  proceeded  to  the  selection  of 
Chairman  and  other  members  of  the  State 
Central  Committee  which  resulted  as  fol¬ 
lows  : 

J.  B.  Parkinson  was  unanimously  elected 
Chairman. 

1st.  Dist.— Otis  Preston,  Elkhorn :  J.  P. 
C.  Cottrill,  jMUwaukee.  • 

2nd  Dist. — D.  W.  Ballou, Watertown  ;  E. 

E.  Chapin,  Columbus. 

3d  Dist. — J.  G.  Knight,  Darlington  ;  R. 
B.  Rice,  Lancaster. 

4th  Dist. — F.  O.  Thorpe,  Fond  du  Lac  ; 
Sat.  Clark,  Horicon. 

5th  Dist. — S.  A.  Pease,  Montello ;  Geo. 
Hyer,  Oshkosh. 

6tli  Dist. — Thco.  Rodolf,  La  Crosse  ;  O. 

F.  Jones,  Hudson.  • 

The  following  resolution  was  unanimous¬ 
ly  adopted  by  the  convention. 

Resolved^  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  be 
voted  the  lion.  H.  L.  Paluiev,  for  the  able  and  im¬ 
partial  manner  in  whicn  he  has  dischar<;ed  the 
duties  of  his  position. 

Convention  adjourned. 


14 


A  Scrap  ©£  Party 
History. 

Judge  Boolittle  Vindi“ 
cstted. 


A  I/etter  from  one  w3io  Knows  tiie 
Workings  of  tlie  Kadical  Party. 


wsn  A 

BY 


Messes.  Editoes:  The  selection  of  a 
person  of  conceded  eminence  and  ability 
for  any  important  public  position  in  this 
country,  is  almost  always  followed  by  the 
bitterest  invective  of  insolence  and  faction. 
There  is  a  class  of  men,  not  all  outside  the 
editorial  profession  either,  who  get  their 
ideas,  when  they  have  any,  from  certain  as¬ 
sumed  letters,  wdio  never  examine  any 
subject  for  themselves,  and  if  they  do,  are 
.  either  too  cowardly  or  dishonest  to  publish 
the  truth  even  when  plainly  demonstrated, 
waiting  for  the  more  corageous  wolf  to 
make  the  flint  snap.  Each  takes  his  turn 
as  the  victim  passes  down  the  line,  and 
tones  his  howl  to  the  note  of  his  master. 

The  selection  of  James  R.  Doolittle  as  a 
candidate  for  Governor  has  drawn  out  the 
pack,  and  each  in  his  way  is  repeating  the 
charge  of  “treachery”  with  as  much  unc¬ 
tion  as  if  he  believed  it,  and  was  uncon¬ 
scious  that  the  past  course  of  the  Republi¬ 
can  party  of  Wisconsin  did  not  belie  the 
assertion.  Fortunatel}’-  hate  has  had  its 
day.  Six  years  have  served  to  cool  down 
much  of  the  prejudice  excited  by  deliber¬ 
ate  and  selfish  invention,  and  the  public 
judgment  is  sufliciently  cool  to  hear  and 
recognize  the  truth. 

I  pass  by  ail  that  is  said  about  the  rea¬ 
sons  wdiy  Mr.  Doolittle  severed  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Democratic  party,  previous 
to  the  w^ar,  suffice  to  say  that  not  a  word 
having  the  faintest  approach  to  truth  or  to 
the  reasons  publicly  assigned  for  that  act, 
have  appeared  in  any  radical  paper  during 
this  canvass.  With  customary  honesty, 


they  are  simply  denouncing  what  they  for¬ 
merly  wisely  applauded.  W^hat  I  design  to 
do  is  to  appeal  to  the  record  of  the  Repub¬ 
lican  party  of  Wisconsin,  and  by  that  try 
J udge  Doolittle  upon  the  charge  of  treach- 
er}'^  so  freely  made,  and  in  doing  this  I  shall 
summon  not  the  Democratic  but  the  Re¬ 
publican  editors  themselves,  and  put  them 
on  the  stand  to  prove  my  assertions^ 
Briefly  and  to  the  Record.  In  1864-5  the 
Legislature  submitted  the  question  of 
negro  sufifage  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  The 
act  of  submission  was  itself  strongly  re¬ 
sisted  by  many  leading  Republicans,  and 
its  presentation  as  a  party  issue  in  1865 
caused  great  doubt  and  anxiety  among 
timid  leaders.  The  Democratic  papers 
taunted  their  opponents  with  cowardice 
and  dared  them  to  make  that  issue  in  the 
canvass.  No  one  knows  better  than  the 
Madison  Regency  including  the  editors  of 
the  State  Journal,  that  the  party  dare  not 
meet  that  question,  and  that  a  policy  of 
evasion  was  deliberately  adopted  to  get  rid 
of  it.  With  the  exception  of  some  half 
dozen  abolition  papers  it  w^as  publicly  ad¬ 
vocated  by  no  one.  In,this  emergency 
the  Regency  after  the  most  strenuous 
elforts,  induced  Senators  Howe  and  Doo¬ 
little  to  attend  the  State  Convention  at 
Madison,  and  draft  its  platform.  This  was 
drawm  by  Judge  Doolittle,  with  the  full 
knowledge  and  without  the' dissent  of 
Judge  How'e,  to  wdiom  it  was  read  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  presentation.  It  was  delivered  to 
the  Convention  and  after  a  short  dissension 
adopted  by  a  large  majority;  and  no  per¬ 
sons  w'ere  louder  in  the  apjilause  than  the 
Madison  Regency,  including  the  editors 
of  the  Journal.  On  that  platform  a  ticket 
was  presented  to  the  people,  with  Lucius 
Fairchild  at  the  head,  which,  together 
with  a  Legislature  W'as  ovei-whelmingly 
elected.  During  the  canvass  there  w'as  not 
a  single  word  favoring  colored  suflrage  in 
the  State  Journal,  and  with  the  exceptions 
named,  in  any  Republican  press  of  the 
State.  So  timid  was  the  proceeding  that 
Gov.  Fairchild  refused  to  declare  on 
which  side  he  stood  in  any  of 
his  speeches  during  the  canvass ; 


15 


and  at  the  polls,  the  people  themselves  vo¬ 
ted  it  down  by  some  six  thousand  majority. 
The  only  public  expression  in  its  favor  was 
at  a  meeting  held  in  Janesville  during  the 
State  Fair,  called  by  S.  M.  Booth,  General 
Paine  and  others,  which  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions  on  the  subject,  among  them  one 
declaring  in  so  many  words,  that  their  ac¬ 
tion  did  not  represent  the  sentiments  of  the 
Republicans  of  W  isconsin ! 

Here  then  was  the  spectacle  of  a  ticket 
elected  on  a  platform  formall}'  approved  by 
a  party  and  prepared  at  the  urgent  entreaty 
of  its  leaders,  in  which  colored  suflrage 
was  purposely  excluded.  Who  under  such 
circumstances  could  have  supposed  that  the 
officers  thus  elected,  and  the  press  that  sus¬ 
tained  them,  would  within  two  months 
after  the  canvass  turn  square  around  and 
assume  that  colored  suffrage  was  the  only 
test  of  Republican  fealty — that  members  of 
the*-i<egislature,  fresh  from  the  polls,  where 
they  had  voted  against  it,  would  instruct 
Senator  Doolittle  to  resign  for  not  voting 
for  it !  That  they  did  so  is  a  matter  of  his¬ 
tory,  and  shows  the  power  of  the  part}’’ 
lash  when  laid  on  in  caucus. 

Who  then  w'as  treacherous  ?  These  men 
who  induced  the  preparation  of  that  plat¬ 
form,  without  which  they  could  not  have 
been  elected,  or  Judge  Doolittle  who  ad¬ 
hered  to  it  ?  The  whole  histor}^  of  that 
canvass  and  of  every  other  canvass,  will 
prove  that  the  Republican  party  ne'S'cr  at 
any  previous  time  advocated  the  extension 
of  suffrage  to  the  negro,  and  they  owe  it 
no  gratitude  for  any  thing  it  ever  attempt¬ 
ed  to  do  for  them.  It  w-as  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  and  not  the  Republican 
liarty,  that  established  this  right.  For 
proof  of  these  things  I  appeal  to  the  files 
of  every  party  organ  in  the  State.  Xot 
one  of  them  dare  publish  the  record,  for  it 
would  convict  them  of  falsehood  beyond  a 
chance  of  evasion. 

If  negro  suffrage,  therefore  was  not  at 
that  time  good  for  "Wisconsin,  having 
about  twelve  hundred  intelligent  colored 
men,  how  came  it  to  be  .so  good  a  thing  to 
enforce  among  four  millions  ignorant  plan¬ 
tation  hands?  The  entire  sum  of  lilr. 


Doolittle’s  sinning  was  a  refusal  to  vote  to 
put  the  South  under  colored  mle.  lie 
predicted  that  it  would  be  followed  by  dis¬ 
order  and  disaster,  and  urged  that  the  col¬ 
ored  population  should  go  through  a  pre¬ 
liminary  education  to  fit  them  for  complete 
citizenship,  lias  not  the  fact  verified  his 
predictions  ?  What  arc  armies  spread  all 
over  the  South  six  years  after  a  war,  but 
the  evidence  that  he  was  right  in  his  con¬ 
clusions?  Why  are  political  conventions 
controlled  by  files  of  regular  soldiers,  and 
loaded  cannon  pointed  on  delegations  of 
citizens  engaged  in  holding  local  meetings 
of  their  own  ?  Why  is  this  restless  spirit 
of  insubordination  everywhere  manifest¬ 
ed?— this  urgent  entreaty  for  oppression 
to  cease  ?  Why  are  four  great  states  placed 
absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the  Africans, 
and  the  white  race  reduced  to  a  nullity, 
having  no  voice  in  the  laws  made  to  gov¬ 
ern  them,  or  a  word  to  say  as  to  the  dispo¬ 
sal  of  public  funds  they  themselves  have 
earned  ?  What  else  does  the  Republican 
press  do  daily  but  give  publicity  to  the  an¬ 
guish  and  despair  of  eight  million  whites 
pinned  down  by  bayonets,  and  ruled  by 
men  so  characterless  and  worthless  that 
even  Horace  Greeley  vomits  at  the  spec¬ 
tacle. 

Every  honest  and  sincere  man  must  ad¬ 
mit  that  Judge  Doolittle  predicted  the 
truth,  and  that  his  political  oftence  con¬ 
sisted  in  refusing  to  betray  his  convictions 
to  meet  the  demands  of  partizanship.  It 
was  not  he  that  changed.  It  was  'a 
refusal  to  change  that  brought  on  his  head 
the  concentrated  venom  ot  excited  parti¬ 
zanship.  The  easy  political  virtue  that 
can  take  form  and  shape  to  suit  the 
whims  of  the  moment  forms  no  part  of  his 
^career.  He  has  Droved  firm  when  firm¬ 
ness  was  dangerous — has  seen  troops  of 
men  whom  he  had  created  from  nothiuff 
turn  and  thrust  their  spears,  in  his  side  up¬ 
on  the  least  sign  of  alarm,  and  trami)Ie  up¬ 
on  every  political  profession  in  his  very 
face,  while  accusing  him  of  their  own 
weakness.  History  will  yet  vindicate  his 
record.  Falsehood  cannot  always  triumph 
over  truth  and  justice.  Even  his  meancB 


16 


enemies  liave  never  pretended  to  deny  his 
absolute  and  unimpeachable  honesty. 
Neither  presents  nor  bribes  have  ever 
stained  his  hands. .  Ilis  private  life  has 
ever  been  a  model  of  purity.  Malignity 
itself  halts  when  it  contemplates  a  charac¬ 


ter  without  blemish  or  reproach.  Parti- 
zanship  may  blind  the  vision,  but  can  nev¬ 
er  permanently  obscui'e  the  record  ot  a 
public  man  greater  than  his  time.  Such  a 
man  is  James  R.  Doolittle. 

Truth. 


